Page 11 of Beautiful Trauma
The dog had sat quietly watching the show but stood when she heard her name. Growling low in her throat, Justice slowly walked toward Sean. The dog hated Sean as much as I did or more. He was the reason she occasionally got locked out of Des’s bedroom.
Sean squealed and backed up. “Call her off, Des.”
Des snapped his fingers. Justice stopped and sat on her haunches, but she never took her eyes off Sean. One false move and she’d be on him.
“If I were you, I’d slowly back out of the door,” I suggested. “No sudden moves, Sean.”
“You think you’ve won, Henry, but Des will get tired of you and toss you aside just like he does with all the pretty boys who came before me. You’re no one special. I’m the only one he’s chosen to keep. Des is just angry with me right now, but it will pass, and he’ll want me back in his bed before the end of the week. I only need to bide my time until then.” Sean paused just on the other side of the doorway for dramatic effect.
“Hold your breath while you’re at it,” I suggested then crossed the room and slammed the door in his face. I turned around and faced Des, whose broad smile would do funny things to my stomach if I weren’t already hung up on a different man who was also way out of my league. “Des, if you take that arrogant son of a bitch back, I’ll—” The phone on my desk rang, interrupting my threat. “Don’t run off. I’m not finished with you.” I crossed the room and picked up the phone from its cradle. “Hastings Law; how can we help you?” I asked.
“Good morning, precious. Is my sweet boy with a client, or does he have a minute to talk?”
“Good morning, Mama Hastings,” I said, looking over at Desmond. He waved his hands then tapped his busted watch, signaling he wasn’t prepared to speak to his mother right then. Des’s first client was due to walk through the door any minute, and his mama was a hard one to get off the phone when she called. “He has a client right now, Mama Hastings. I can give him a message when he’s through.” Des steepled his hands in prayer and mouthedthank you.“I have a few minutes though, and you won’t believe what happened here this morning.”
Des narrowed his eyes and would’ve flipped me off, but Mrs. Robbins walked through the door, so he silently waved her into his office instead.
“Do tell, precious. By the delightful tone of your voice, I’m hoping my son has seen the light and got rid of that no-good, self-hating homosexual he called a boyfriend.”God, I loved this woman.
My workload was light, so I grabbed a cup of coffee from the carrier, and a rainbow-sprinkled chocolate donut from the box. “Oh, yeah,” I told her.
I was still buzzing from caffeine, sugar, and pettiness when I met Geoff for lunch at a food court halfway between our two offices.
“Check you out,” Geoff said, giving me a once-over as I approached the table. He’d arrived first and already ordered our food.
“Tell me; are my feet still on the ground?”
“Oh my God. Did you and Des smoke a joint one of his clients gave him as payment?”
“No one pays Des in weed,” I said. At least not that I knew about anyway. “You know I’ve never smoked pot a day in my life. I’ve never been drunk either.” Except for the one time Ezra got me stoned on his pheromones and fucked me senseless. “Des and Seanfinallybroke up. I don’t know any of the dirty details, but Mama Hastings and I are so thrilled.”
“Do you have a thing for your boss?” Geoff teased, pushing a tray with my chicken Caesar gyro, kettle chips, and Sprite across the table to me.
I snorted. Des and I were close, so a lot of the people in our lives assumed we were circling one another waiting for the right time to make our move. I loved Desmond Hastings with all my heart, but I wasn’tin lovewith him. I was certain Des felt the same way about me too. “No, but I do have a thing for my professor.”
“After only one day back at school. What’s he like?” Geoff asked.
“You’ve met him,” I said coyly.
Geoff took the bait. “How? When?”
“Think back to a cold day in mid-December. A boy became a man, and—”
“Holy fuck,” Geoff loudly said, earning many glares from the people eating around us.
I leaned forward and softly said, “I don’t know if it was holy, but it was ethereal for sure.”
“The sexy guy who picked you up at Vibe is a professor?Your professor?”
“My Biology of Human Sexuality professor,” I said.
Geoff just stared at me for a few seconds with his mouth gaping open. “What happened? Did he recognize you?”
“Uh-huh,” I said then sank my teeth into my gyro. I made happy noises while I chewed and tried not to laugh at Geoff’s irritated expression.
“And?”
“Eat your lunch, Geoff.” He rolled his eyes but took a bite anyway.